Posts Tagged ‘shelvic exam’

Congrats to Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS RD, aka “Nutrition Babe” who submitted a picture of her healthy refrigerator as part of my Sears FitStudio Shelvic Examchat contest. These chats are held every Wednesday evening throughout November from 7:30-8:30pm CST on Twitter at #FitStudio as part of my Healthy Kitchen Makeover project.

What made Lauren’s fridge a winner? Take a peek below!

Where do I begin? Look at all of the yellow arrows of goodness!

Produce: Lauren has plenty starting from the bottom up. I like to see those crispers jammed packed with fruits and veggies. It’s hard to make half your plate fruits and veggies unless you have plenty in the fridge.

Dairy: From Greek yogurt, to low-fat milk, to cottage and cheese wedges, Lauren has plenty of calcium rich-dairy to build healthy bones. She even has an almond beverage as a change of pace – not super high in protein but it does have at least 30% DV of calcium, depending on the product.

Eggs: Lauren has both egg replacers and the real deal. Both are healthy but I always recommend whole eggs for their nutrients such as choline (good for brain health) and Lutien ( a nutrient that’s great for the eyes).

Others: She also has calcium fortified 100% orange juice, low sodium chicken broth, fun snack packs of hummus and some jarred white fish for a quick source of great protein.

What’s NOT there! Lauren still could have had some goodies in there from chocolate, a few cans of soda, and so on and I would have still awarded her 1st prize. But there is no doubt that Lauren has her eye on the prize -not just the lovely Yoga Mat she won courtesy of Sears and yours truly – but more importantly, her health! Take one look at Lauren’s photo here on the Nutrition Babes website and you can see she is one RD who practices what she preaches! Great job, Lauren – congrats!!

Join me this Wednesday at 7:30pm CST on Twitter for more great Kitchen Makeover information and terrific prizes from Sears and the Guyatitian!

I was excited to hear that Chobani launched a kids line of Greek yogurt late last year which they call Chobani Champions. They come in four flavors: Verryberry, Strawnana, Honeynana and Chocolate. All 40z cups contain 110 calories except for the chocolate variety which is 120 calories. Champions boast 5 active cultures for digestive wellness and all fruit varieties contain real fruit – very healthy, indeed!

My daughters (Madison (11), Katie (12),and Chloe (15)) taste-tested all flavors of the Chobani Champions except for the Honeynana and here are the results.

Chobani Champions VerryBerry

The “Taste”

The Reaction – “GREAT!!”

Chobani Chocolate Champions

The “Taste”

The Reaction – “So, So”

Strawnana

The “Taste”

The Reaction – “So, So”

My wife Sharon and I also tried all flavors, enjoyed them, but thought they could be a tad sweeter for the kiddies. None-the-less, two of the daughters were not that impressed and asked us to keep the fridge stocked with the regular Chobani though Madison would like to see Veryberry Champions again, berry soon!

The Materne company is the most popular applesauce company in France and boasts more than 1 billion pouches consumed to date. GoGo squeeZ’s can be found in more than 2,000 supermarkets and retailers across the US. It is also available through amazon and other online retailers.

Nutrition Smackdown? This is a fun and convenient way of getting your kids to eat fruit and is only 60 calories per pouch. I only wish Materne used their creativity, beyond cool packaging, to find a way to include the peel of the apple which contains much of the vitamin C and fiber found in whole apples.

Cost? I found a range of $0.62 to $0.82 cents per pouch. They come in individual boxes of four and you can find them by the case of 48 units online. I also couldn’t find any information if the packaging is ‘environmetally friendly’ and the cap may be a choking hazard for the little tikes – be aware.

Taste? Overall, this is a pretty cool product. I asked my daughters, Katie and Madison, what they thought of it…

Before you make that decision, here’s some things you should know about me…

I’m a registered dietitian but I’m also a father, husband and a regular guy who LOVES food. I’m in decent shape but don’t sport a “six pack” nor aspire to but I’m happy that I’m not lugging around a “little pony” either.

If I screw up and don’t follow my own advice, guess what happens to me? My weight, cholesterol, blood pressure all go up, just like many of you who are reading this. It took quite a few years for this realization to sink into my head – “It’s a good thing to know about health but it is an even better thing to achieve it.” Wow! That’s quotable! :). Or did I just totally rip that off of someone else?

I’m also a realist. I know what people like to eat and where they like to eat. I don’t think it serves anyone to say this company is “bad” or that restaurant is “bad” – they wouldn’t exist unless there was a market for them and their offerings. I also think many idealistic food influencers out there tend to draw the line in the sand and forget that people gravitate towards certain foods and restaurants namely because they bring something to the table so often overlooked by nutritionists and food influencers alike – FUN and ENJOYMENT. (My) Our continued challenge is how to we get people to salivate over fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds as much as they do over foods that are not that great for them? I have some ideas on this that I’m going to share with you from time to time – feel free to do the same.

As you will see, I tend to run without much of a filter (much to my wife’s dismay). I like to call it the way I see it and I can become quite passionate about some topics – especially childrens’ health and nutrition. I’m committed to providing YOU with good sound information… something that you and\or your family can use that might make your lives better. But I promise I will keep my posts “clean” and I ask that any responses that you are kind enough to offer, also contain suitable language. I would love for the kiddies to come by and stay awhile ;).

He’s naked!

Nice. I thought you were going to keep it clean, Dave?! No worries, I’m not going to blind-side you with a shocking nude photo of myself when you scroll down. What I mean by “naked” is that I come to you in the spirit of full-disclosure.

As the sisters of St. Francis once said, “No Money, No Mission”. How I put food on the table is by being a nutrition counselor, a writer, a spokesperson and a consultant for the food industry. If I find products\foods I believe in, I may do spokesperson work for them from time to time. I promise that I will disclose any relationships that I have with any companies\partners in my posts. No fine print here. But also keep in mind that you won’t see me hawking things I don’t believe in which may include but not limited to:

Artificial anything – sugar replacer, fat replacers, etc.

“Foods” that are questionable as to their ability to nourish the body – ones full of white flour, sugars, chemicals, etc don’t score big nutrition points with me but trust me, it doesn’t mean you won’t see me eating some “junk” every now and then. Now, let me state for the record that I love me some junk every once in a while – sure… you may see Dave scarfing down a honeybun, candybar, a sat fat burger – anything that might clog the arteries. But though I choose to eat them doesn’t mean that I’m going to help “push someone off of the ledge”. You want to eat junk? Do so with my blessing. This blog\website thingy is all about adding in good food, NOT staying away from OR promoting the consumption of, junk.

Also keep in mind that I only associate with food\products that are congruent with my nutrition philosophy. And yes, you should always read everything with a skeptical eye (even from me) but don’t fall into the trap of automatically writing off info you read as “tainted” because there is a business relationship involved. I am commited to sound science and truth. I have a reputation at stake and good standing amongst my nutrition brethren so I’m careful about who and what I affiliate with (see Nutrition Housecall page for a full listing of past and current affiliations).

The Shelvic Exam

Some of you may know that this blog was originally going to be called “The Shelvic Exam” . Those who I hold in high regard advised me not to do so (wife included). They thought the name was a little “out there”. But what I mean by ‘Shelvic Exam” is that I want to offer to you, the reader, the same service I offer my patients through my Nutrition Housecall practice. I want to take a peek into your cabinet and shelves and give you the opportunity to submit your pictures of whats in your refrigerator, freezer and pantry shelves…any shelf that has food on it. I want to know what you are eating and what’s eating you? My goal is to render a “diagnosis”, “prognosis” (what may happen – good or bad- if you keep eating THAT food) and a “prescription” that advises you to:

Keep up the good work – great food selections

It doesn’t make much difference the food choices are neutral – like Switzerland!

You may want to get rid of the food or don’t eat it as often. But I discourage you to give any food that I consider to be “a poor choice” to the poor. They have never done anything against you. So give some thought on giving these foods to a neighbor you don’t like.

Another part of “The Shelvic Exam” will be reviewing nutrition and cook books and food products. Warning! Anything that is less-than-truthful, misguided and claiming to be something that they are not, please be on notice – wherever there is food injustice and nutrition misinformation – I will call you out.

Rules of engagement

I hope you will like what I will be posting here. There will be recipes, food photos, my rants and raves, my “Shelvic Exam” and other stuff, I’m sure. I hope to have contests and giveaways. I welcome book and healthy product submissions for review (see Contact Me). By the way, my kids will be doing all food product reviews. So here’s fair warning. If my kids like it, they will tell you so. If they don’t …? For my kids, it’s about taste and enjoyment, not nutrition. I respect that. But I also believe that you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other, right?

I truly do want to hear what YOU want to hear about not just my ramblings. Feel free to ask questions and certainly post your comments. I want your pictures\videos here, too – open up your cabinets and let me take a peek! I promise, it won’t hurt a bit ;).

Your comments. Make them clean please.

Disagreeing is a healthy thing. If you don’t feel what I posted or what a reader has submitted for comments is right, say so. But let’s not be unkind or resort to name calling. I promise that this is me without a filter but it doesn’t mean getting nasty – keep me in check in case I get too passionate and violate rule #2.

Companies who have products that you want me to review, I’m happy to try it all. But know this:

If I feel it’s a fit for my nutrition philosophy, I will tell you so. I will be quite honest about the taste, cost, ease of prep and such.

If it’s junk but tastes good, I will identify it as such.

If it’s junk, pretending to be healthy, and taste great, I will identify it as such.

If it is junk, pretending to be healthy and tastes like poop, prepare to be skewered!

That’s it for my first post. Oh yeah, I’m going to Florence, Italy next week and plan on taking some sweet pics of what’s on the shelves of Italian homes. I will eat and blog my way through the city. I hope to take a picture of “David by the David”. I’m bringing my Flip Camera and hope to provide you with some neat interviews of people who will be attending the food conference that I will be presenting at. So, swing by as often as you like – I hope to things interesting. Oh, by the way, the photo at the beginning is of a dish called “Rosemary Nuts” (as in the herb Rosemary) from my new book, 101 Optimal Life Foods. So the answer to the title is “Yes and “YES”!